Joey Ramone Solo Album To Be Released 11 Years After Death

Punk rock legend Joey Ramone is getting a posthumous album release, as his second solo album will be unveiled on May 22 -- 11 years after his death.

The upcoming solo album, '...Ya Know?,' consists of songs drawn from demos and unreleased recordings created by Ramone during the last 15 years of his life. The album title refers to the phrase that Ramone used often in conversation. Mickey Leigh, Joey's brother and fellow musician, is the executive producer of the project.

In a statement on the Ramones' official site, Leigh says, "It was of the utmost importance to me that these remaining songs of Joey's be finished properly, and made available for the world to hear. Over the past eight years I've been getting barrages of emails and Facebook messages from Joey's fans, wanting to know when this album would be coming out. So having it finally become a reality gives me a feeling of triumph — not for me, but for my brother, and for his fans. And there's not the slightest doubt in my mind that people are gonna be blown away by it."

Producer Ed Stasium, who worked with the Ramones on several albums, also served as producer for the 15 tracks on '...Ya Know.' In addition to the production work, Stasium also added instrumentation and vocals throughout the album. Other contributors to the project included Joan Jett, Little Steven, Bun E. Carlos (Cheap Trick), Lenny Kaye (Patti Smith) and several others.

Fans can get a preview of '...Ya Know' with the single 'Rock 'n' Roll Is The Answer,' co-written with Plasmatics guitarist Richie Stotts. It will be released on vinyl as a limited edition seven inch single as part of Record Store Day on April 21.

The 12th annual Joey Ramone Birthday Bash is coming up May 19 at The Studio at Webster Hall in New York. The party will include a performance of the entire album by artists that played on '...Ya Know' along with some special guests.